Presidential candidate Ron Paul pegged the decline of family values to the growth of government in America over the last five decades in a speech to social conservatives on Saturday night.

“If government gets too big, the family is undermined,” Paul said, adding later, “We need more family values and more governance by the family — not by the United States government.”

Since the 1960s, the family unit has fractured in America, while the welfare state has grown larger, he said. As social safety nets have spread wider, work ethic has declined, and as the federal government has become more involved in education, achievement has plummeted, he said.

In short, he argued, moral decline has led to a decline in governance, and has brought the United States to its present difficulty.

The libertarian-leaning Republican congressman from Texas cited foundations in the Old Testament for many of his arguments favoring the family over government, likening, for example, today’s federal government to the king favored by people in the book of Samuel.

“We have drifted in the direction of accepting a king in Washington, D.C.,” he said.

The book of Isaiah, he said, contributes to his opposition to the country’s present monetary policy and supports a return to hard currency backed by a commodity like gold.

“If we do the right thing and just go back to our principles, look at our values and look at our Constitution, we can get back on our feet in one year,” Paul said.